An Interlude another NCIS story (REVISED)
by magensby
Summary: Jethro and Margie once again find themselves in a harrowing situation. Will they survive this time?


**Un-betaed**

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **An Interlude another NCIS story (REVISED)**

 **(A sequel to Past, Present and Future another NCIS story)**

(Revised items in **bold** and underlined)

 **(Changed the ages of Margie's parents from eighties to seventies. Additionally the Sterns' couple are both doctors not a doctor and a nurse.)**

 **Chapter 1**

Two years have passed since we last saw Jethro, Margie and the twins. They have settled in to home and work life and all goes well. How long with that last with these two?

Margie and the twins went to their swimming classes so that gives me some quiet time to put their presents in their rooms. I have worked on these three plaques for a while now and trying to keep it a secret from three year olds has proven quite a task. Richard and Nicole love to spend time in my workshop and it thrills me to no end that they do. I think that soon Richard will want his own tools. Nicole likes to draw things for me to make. Looks like we have an artist in the family with that little one. What more can I say about my Margie? The woman still does not realize how wonderful of a person she is.

A few months after we had the party for the twins' first birthday, which by the way was so much fun, we had new neighbors to move in down the street from us. **Two young doctors** and their 18 month-old little boy. Dr. Michael Sterns is a pediatrician at Georgetown University Hospital and his wife Rachel is an internist there. They are a very nice couple. As part of the neighborhood welcome team, Margie has visited with them many times to help them adjust to their new surroundings. With a small child they asked for suggestions on childcare services in the area. Margie home schools Richard and Nicole so she offered to add the Sterns' little boy Justin to the mix. The twins were over the moon delighted to have a new member of their group. Now almost two years later these three are practically inseparable and we call them the 'Three Musketeers'.

I digress. Let me install these plaques while I have the time. The plaques are scripture verses that so eloquently describe the three most important persons in my life:

For my Margie - **Song of Solomon 4:9:** "You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace."

For Richard - **Hosea 12:6:** "Always put your hope in God."

For Nicole - **2 Samuel 22:29:** "You, Lord, are my lamp."

And so as not be left out I made one for myself:

For me – **Proverbs 20:7:** "The righteous man walks in integrity; His children are blessed after him."

It takes me a little longer than I anticipated hanging the plaques in the children's rooms and in Margie's office but I finish just before they return. I hang my plaque in my workshop so that I can see it while working on my projects.

Margie and the kids come in and put their wet swimsuits in the laundry room and then head upstairs to shower and change. Just as I head to the kitchen to take out the lunch that I prepared for them I hear a scream,

" _Daddy, daddy, it's beautiful!"_

Nicole says as she comes running down the stairs and jumps up into my arms. Before I can respond to her exuberance down the stairs comes Richard with a big grin on his face.

" _Daddy I like it!"_

" _Well I am glad that you both like your plaques. Remember that we read those verses the other night and I thought that it would be nice to put them on a plaque for your room. Okay go upstairs so that your mom can help you get bathed and then come down to have lunch."_

" _Yes daddy. We will be back down soon."_ They said and went back upstairs.

Thirty minutes later they all three come downstairs for lunch. By that time of course they have told Margie about everything. She walks up to me and kisses me on the cheek.

" _You are such a good father, my love. Thank you for that. They will long remember it."_

" _I'm just glad that they like them. Come on let's eat and then I have something to show you."_

" _You have something to show me. Do I need to put the children down for a nap for you to show me this thing?"_

" _No Margie you don't. In fact I want to show them too."_

" _Oh, phooey then it's not what I thought it was. All right let's eat."_

" _Margie I promise you can see that other thing later when the kids are asleep for the night."_

" _Sure, promises, promises. I will hold you to that Jethro."_

We eat lunch and then I take Margie to her office and show her the plaque. She smiles and kisses me. The children put their hands over their eyes and say, ' _daddy's kissing mommy_ '. We then all go downstairs to my workshop and I show them my plaque. Everyone expresses their delight and then we leave to go to Margie's parents for the rest of the day.

Upon our return home we bathed and put the children to bed and I showed Margie that 'thing' as I promised.

Margie had a very intense assignment for work and so she arranged for her parents to watch Richard and Nicole for a few days. They love it when they stay with their grandparents and their grandparents love it too. We try not to ask too often because we don't want to wear out her parents. Unfortunately my schedule got very busy at the same time so we had no choice but to send them to their grandparents. The Sterns' made other arrangements for their son Justin. His grandparents came for a visit and were able to watch Justin while the Sterns were at work.

Working as Assistant Director has opened my eyes to the complexity of maintaining an organization such as NCIS. We've had past skirmishes with other organizations but now that I am really in the thick of things I find that I admire Director Vance a lot more after seeing all of the things that he has to do to head this agency and all of its staff. Leon and I continue to work together as a well-oiled machine and I would not trade my position for anything in the world. Now I can't figure out why I waited so long to take the position. I guess that I thought that I would miss the excitement of being in the field but I was wrong. I see action from all around the world and at times it seems constant and at other times we do experience some calm but we always remain vigilant for any threat to security.

Margie should finish her current assignment today and we plan to pick up the twins after work and take them to the park for some family time. I miss my little ones when they are away from us. They always return though with stories about what they did with their grandparents. They usually visit a museum for any new exhibits. For three year olds they seem to enjoy doing those kinds of things and their grandparents always enjoy teaching them something new. They tell Margie and me that their job is to always add something new to their little brains. They love their grandchildren and have already said that when they twins get older that they will take them on a tour of Europe. Well Amanda and Thomas are already in their **seventies** so that trip will have to take place soon. Although I must say that they are still active and fit so they just might pull off this European trip.

I make it to the McGregor's to pick up Richard and Nicole and they meet me at the door and, not giving me a moment to even say hello, they tell me all about what they have done with their grandma and grandpa. They tag team telling me. It makes me grin the way that they communicate and allow one to talk and then the other so not one of them monopolizes the conversation. Amanda and Thomas don't look any the 'worse for wear' and hand to me the kids' luggage and I get them settled in the car. They walk me out to the car and after I secure the twins in their car seats Amanda asks me if everything is all right because she has not heard from Margie today. She says that Margie usually calls in the afternoon but she didn't hear anything from her today. She knows that Margie can sometimes get very involved in her work but she always makes time to speak with the twins. Then I realize that I too have not heard from Margie so far today. I won't worry until I call her when I get home. Right now I just want to get the kids settled and I will probably find Margie at home waiting for us to go to the park. I assure Amanda that probably it's just Margie involved in something and time got away from her and she will call later. I bid goodbye to them and drive home.

Upon my arrival at home the first thing that I notice is that Margie's car is not parked out front. You can't miss her baby blue Mustang. She once told me that when she was a teenager the father of one of her friends had a baby blue Mustang and she always thought that it was the 'coolest' car and one day she would have one. How she managed to get car seats in the back seat of that thing I can't fathom but she reminded me that if the two of us can fit in the back seat while making love then two car seats could fit back there. I remember that experience fondly. Well let me get the twins settled inside and it looks like we won't have a park visit today. I will make a picnic in the back yard. They will like that.

With the three of us in the kitchen preparing our little picnic feast they tell me about their stay with their grandparents and teach me some of the new words that they learned. Both of Margie's parents love languages so whenever they spend time with the twins they always teach them new words. The new words for this visit were morning and night in Greek, 'Kali-mera' and 'Kali-neek-ta'. I am impressed. They already speak French, Spanish and Italian and Russian. I didn't do too badly in teaching them that if I say so myself.

We have a great picnic and Richard and Nicole help me to clean up. Although I did call and leave a message for Margie when I arrived home I have not heard from her. She probably put her phone on vibrate and have it on her desk. She always tries to stay in phone contact in case of some emergency with the twins. I try not to worry and decide to just keep the children involved so that they don't have time to think that their mother is not here yet. We go inside and put away everything and then they go to their rooms to play before their baths and bedtime.

Once they go upstairs I try again to reach Margie and noticed that I have a message on my phone. It looks like gobbledygook, a series of dots and dashes and just as I prepare to delete it thinking that it is a wrong number I realize what it really is. It is Morse code. I translate the first section as 'SOS' and then I realize that it comes from Margie's cell phone number. My stomach sinks to my toes and I feel such a sense of dread that I want to scream but I know that I can't do that. Immediately I call the Sterns and ask if I can drop Richard and Nicole off there so that I can go to the office. I then call McGee to meet me at the office and I call Margie's supervisor. It puzzles me that no one from her office has called to say that anything is wrong unless they don't know that something has happened to Margie. I call Leon and tell him of my suspicions and he tells me to use whatever resources that I need. When I do reach Margie's supervisor the tells me that Margie was on route from a meeting in Baltimore and they thought that she had arrived back at the office two hours ago to complete some paperwork regarding the training that she conducted. I told him that I received an SOS from Margie's cell phone number. He told me that he would have staff to get on this right away and will keep me updated on their progress. I wasn't waiting on this staff to get back with me. This is my wife and I will find her. I know that Margie is not NCIS staff but I have to do something. I can't just wait around for someone to call me and let me know what is happening with my wife. I waited before when she was shot and poisoned and I won't do that again. Waiting around on the periphery for word of her life or death. Anyway she sent the message to me. Her supervisor didn't say that anyone there also received a message so she sent it to me because she knew that I would move earth itself to find her.

I make it to the office and find that not only did McGee arrive but also his entire team was there. McGee now serves as senior agent for my former team. I have McGee to pull up the message on the plasma screen and everyone gets to work on translating the Morse code. McGee also works on triangulating the location of the phone when the message was sent. Before McGee can finish determining the location of the phone at the time of the call I receive a call from Margie's supervisor.

" _Mr. Gibbs, I just want to update you on our progress in finding your wife. Evidently a disgruntled ex-spouse managed to kidnap his ex-wife along with the people in the van in which she was riding. He has them in some abandoned building off the interstate. We also received Margie's text. It appears that she had the wherewithal to send a group text. She realized that she couldn't leave a voice message so she did the next best thing. She also activated the GPS locator on her phone so we know exactly where she is. We contacted the local authorities and they and the FBI are on route to that location as we speak. We have not received any additional texts from Margie so we assume that the kidnapper has not done anything drastic. Margie is a highly trained agent and we remain confident that this situation will resolve itself peacefully."_

" _Mr. Crawford thank you for calling me and please continue to keep me updated on the progress of the rescue."_

I turn to the team and recount to them my conversation with Margie's supervisor. They all give a sigh of relief that the authorities were on their way to rescue Margie and the other persons on the van. I dismiss everyone but they say that they would rather stay until they know that Margie has been rescued. I sit at the vacant desk in the area and wait and pray. An hour later my phone rings and I don't recognize the number and start to hang up but realize that it may be news about Margie. I say hello and then I hear,

" _Hello Ace."_

My heart leaps to my throat. She's okay, she all right, she's alive! My Margie is alive!

" _Margie are you okay? Where are you?"_

" _I'm okay Ace. The kidnapper is in custody and all the passengers are fine, a bit traumatized but fine. The local authorities took the passengers to the station so that they can wait there for their agencies to send transport for them back to DC. I'm catching a ride back with one of the FBI agents so I should see you in the next few hours. My, my, my what a day! Glad that everyone received my message. I tried to be as discreet as possible because I didn't know what would trigger this guy. Well he's going away for a long time. Oh I will need to get a new phone because they took mine in for evidence. I'm glad that I used my work phone and not my private phone. Wouldn't want them to see all of those racy photos that I have saved on there of you and me in compromising positions."_

I know that Margie is okay because she is joking now. She doesn't keep any pictures on her phone because she doesn't want to run the risk of someone getting the pictures and targeting her or her loved ones. We both work dangerous jobs, she more than I, and some things we must take extra care to protect.

" _Okay Alexis I will see you at home. Before you ask, the twins are with the Sterns. I am at the office."_

I know that Jethro is okay because he called me Alexis. Before he would only call me Alexis when he wanted to talk seriously. Now he has added calling me Alexis when he wants me to know that he is all right. I worry about him too because even though we both have 'desk jobs' now we still work in a dangerous field.

" _Okay love. Give my regards to the team. Knowing you everyone came in to rescue me. Tell them I love them for it. Have to go now, my ride is ready to leave and I had to borrow somebody else's phone to contact you. I love you Ace don't ever forget that."_

" _I love you too Margie. Get here soon."_

The team all look at me and I tell them of the rescue. They surround me with a group hug and we all disperse back to our homes. A group hug, I am definitely getting 'soft' in my old age, but no we are a family and we share in the good and the bad. I'm so glad that his 'bad' ended in 'good'.

On my way home I pick up the twins from the Sterns and thank them for their help. They assured me that they love spending time with them and Justin never wants them to leave. The twins are so busy telling me about what they did at the Sterns' house and I am glad that they have not asked me about why their mother isn't home yet. I bathe them and put them to bed. Just as I finish reading a story to them they do ask when will their mother come home. I tell them that their mom is on her way home now but they have to go to sleep now and she will see them in the morning. Surprisingly enough they don't fuss about not seeing her before they go to sleep and once I walk each of them to their room and they get in bed they fall asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillow. I kiss each of them on the cheek and then go to my room to shower and change and wait for Margie to arrive.

At about 9:30 p.m. the front door opens and there she stands. I take a deep breath and whisper a prayer of thanks. I then rush to her and envelope her in my arms. She doesn't say anything she just lets me hold her. I am so glad that she is home and I can see with my own eyes that she is all right. I know that she is probably tired and wants to take a hot shower and go to sleep. I'm all for the hot shower but I'm not sure how much sleep she will get because I need to have physical confirmation that she is here with me and that requires intimate contact. As if reading my mind she lifts her head and looks in my eyes and says,

" _I need physical confirmation too Jethro. Let me take a shower and then I'm all yours."_

" _Why don't I take a shower with you and then you can be all mine in and out of the shower."_

" _I like that plan. Come on I am tired and feel really grubby."_

We climb the stairs together and upon reaching the top landing she stops and veers off towards the left to check on the twins. She enters Richard's room first and kisses his forehead. He doesn't stir or awake. Next she does the same with Nicole and has the same reaction. They are out like lights.

We make it to our room and while she undresses I turn on the shower and wait for her to enter the bathroom. I'm undressed by the time she makes it to the shower. We shower and hold and caress each other allowing each to confirm that the other is actually present. With her back to the wall I emphatically reclaim her body. With the shower finished and both dried we do not bother with pajamas tonight because we both know that we will not wear them for long. Once on the bed she makes love to me with a voraciousness that I have not seen in a while. We both fall limp to the bed and quickly fall asleep.

Early the next morning I hear Margie in the shower and I know that she's trying to get up to prepare breakfast. She knows that the twins love to wake up to the smell of breakfast cooking so I jump up to shower with her. We both make it downstairs before the two 'whirlwinds' wake up. With breakfast completed we hear them running down the stairs and when they turn the corner to the kitchen and see their mother they both try to jump on her.

" _Mommy, mommy, you're home!"_

" _Yes I am. Have you behaved yourselves while I've been away."_

" _Yes we have…"_

They then recount to her everything that they did with their grandparents and with me and with the Sterns so that by the time we finish breakfast Margie knows every little detail.

" _Well I am so sorry that I missed the picnic with daddy. Maybe next week we can have another picnic in the back yard."_

" _Yay!_ "

They are two happy little children right now. I know that Margie has to check in at the office so I arranged for her parents to stop by today and watch the kids here at our house. As soon as they return upstairs and get dressed Amanda and Thomas arrive.

Margie and I then head to our offices and agree to meet for lunch. She will put in a full day in the office today just so she can file paperwork on the meeting and the kidnapping. She can then return to her regular schedule of working from home. We do meet for lunch and then return to our respective offices. Once again we have survived another adventure in the lives of Alexis Marjorie and Leroy Jethro Gibbs. We never have a dull moment but we wouldn't have it any other way. We appreciate the good times and give thanks for surviving the not so good times.


End file.
